First people on mars

[Jam_Man]

http://news.sky.com/story/1428794/britons-shortlisted-for-one-way-trip-to-mars

So we are sending people to mars. Or its a scam to do with reality TV shows ?

Cant see this being genuine as the finances must be astronomical, and if they are charging applicants to apply that hardly says they are able to finance it.

If it were genuine who in their right mind would actually apply?

A year long one way journey. Even if you got there you won't come back, what sort of life could a person really expect to live there?

Obviously the kudos of being the next Neil Armstrong would be historic, but he knew there was a good possibility of coming home.

 

[Mad Cyril]

I would apply. At the very least it looks like you get a free Moonraker style tracksuit.

 

[southendkid]

Research carried out at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests a manned mission to Mars would see the crew die within 68 days.

I'm going to trust the experts on this rather than some entrepreneur who likely knows nothing about space. Even if this was legitimate a one way trip with only a few people sounds horrible, on Earth if you don't like a group of people you just find another group to talk to. On Mars though these are the only people you're seeing for the rest of your life, so you're stuck with them, doesn't exactly sound fun. Plus luxuries we take for granted like TV, restaurants, cinemas, football etc won't be on Mars, sounds like a boring life to me.

 

[Cricko]

I'm going to trust the experts on this rather than some entrepreneur who likely knows nothing about space. Even if this was legitimate a one way trip with only a few people sounds horrible, on Earth if you don't like a group of people you just find another group to talk to. On Mars though these are the only people you're seeing for the rest of your life, so you're stuck with them, doesn't exactly sound fun. Plus luxuries we take for granted like TV, restaurants, cinemas, football etc won't be on Mars, sounds like a boring life to me.

That is actually quite amusing....You are saying in your life if you are gifted with just a few friends ..they would bore the pants off you after a time. I guess you don't have many life long ones then that whatever they you/do they are still friends.

Luxuries is the main thing that bugs me....you are going to a place no man has been before with untold expectations but you are more worried about your Tv and where you can eat. Good Grief.

Book me in Danno.

 

[MK Shrimper]

If they leave the Earth I doubt they'll make it alive, due to the interstellar radiation.

 

[Mad Cyril]

If they leave the Earth I doubt they'll make it alive, due to the interstellar radiation.

Stick to fridges son and leave it to the pros.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Stick to fridges son and leave it to the pros.

:raspberry: Indiana Jones survived a nuclear bomb blast by hiding in a fridge, perhaps they can use my old one,

 

[dingleydangley]

:raspberry: Indiana Jones survived a nuclear bomb blast by hiding in a fridge, perhaps they can use my old one,

They'll never get it out of your kitchen.

 

[southendkid]

That is actually quite amusing....You are saying in your life if you are gifted with just a few friends ..they would bore the pants off you after a time. I guess you don't have many life long ones then that whatever they you/do they are still friends.

Luxuries is the main thing that bugs me....you are going to a place no man has been before with untold expectations but you are more worried about your Tv and where you can eat. Good Grief.

Book me in Danno.

I'm not saying that, I do have friends but I wasn't assigned 10 people and told 'these are your friends, deal with it otherwise you'll have no mates', I built up friendships overtime with people I got on with and drifted away from people I didn't really click with. The problem is these people aren't friends beforehand so there's no guarantee they'll all get along with each other, if you take a group of people in an office or a school or whatever there's a good chance they aren't all going to be mates with each other. However in those situations it doesn't matter because they don't need to hang around each other 24/7 because they will have friends outside the school or office they can talk to, and they can mix these outside friends with the people they do get on with in the office. Not the case with this Mars mission, they'll be stuck in a rocket together for six months and afterwards probably won't have a massive amount of space in this air bubble that's being placed on Mars so they are going to have to be 'friends' whether they like it or not.

 

[Cricko]

If you have 10 real friends in this life you are more than a lucky person.. As this mission is some time off I am sure one of the main things they take will into account is relationships between others....If would be daft to send people millions of miles away on maybe a one way ticket if they did not get along.

That said I am sure at some point there will be a clash of personalities but isn't that life even with your best mates here on Earth, morso sometimes. So I get your point.

 

[amsemp]

I can definitely see the appeal for these volunteers. They will be the modern day explorers and their names will be mentioned in schools across the world for many years to come, as they take their pretty huge place in history. That said, I couldn't think of anything worse given the fact it's a one way journey already described as a suicide mission by some and doomed to fail by others, who state they will start dying after 68 days.

I'd miss my friends, family, hobbies and luxuries too much. I'm more concerned about enjoying my life to the max and having a good time, rather than leaving any historical legacy.

 

[united we stand]

I don't believe this will happen for one minute. However if it did work according to plan would it really be a one way mission? If we can get them there who is to say that in later years we would not have the technology to get them back.

 

[MK Shrimper]

I don't believe this will happen for one minute. However if it did work according to plan would it really be a one way mission? If we can get them there who is to say that in later years we would not have the technology to get them back.

Unlikely, the amount of fuel needed to break the gravatational hold of Mars would be too cumbersome to transport all the way from Earth. Really is a suicide mission.

 

[Mad Cyril]

Unlikely, the amount of fuel needed to break the gravatational hold of Mars would be too cumbersome to transport all the way from Earth. Really is a suicide mission.

Fuel can be made from the water on Mars.

 

[MK Shrimper]

Fuel can be made from the water on Mars.

There's more holes in that theory than a string vest.

 

[Mad Cyril]

There's more holes in that theory than a string vest.

Perhaps but I have briefly worked for the European Space Agency......where I wrote software....

 

[MK Shrimper]

Perhaps but I have briefly worked for the European Space Agency......

I'd love to hear your reasoning.

1) Most, if not all water on Mars is ice, buried deep under the rock. How would we get it out?
2) We certainly don't have the technology to alter simple water into rocket fuel - if we did somehow develop the ability, it'd have to be transported to Mars - again weight prohibitive.

 

[RobM]

Fuel works by oxidising - combining with oxygen, the hydrogen in water has already done that. That's why it doesn't burn.

 

[Mad Cyril]

Fuel can be made from the water on Mars.

I'd love to hear your reasoning.

1) Most, if not all water on Mars is ice, buried deep under the rock. How would we get it out?
2) We certainly don't have the technology to alter simple water into rocket fuel - if we did somehow develop the ability, it'd have to be transported to Mars - again weight prohibitive.

Water can be split using electrolysis into hydrogen and oxygen which was used in the space shuttle, arianne, Saturn V etc....

This is one of the reasons scientists are so interested in finding water on Mars and the moon

 

[RobM]

Indeed it can - but the electricity is needed first. The volume of hydrogen required would present some troubles!